The editors probably thought Nossiter would have been a good choice because of his local background, but he’s been terrible. Maybe he feels a need to overcompensate for the sympathy he can’t help but feeling, and believes that by casting our city in the most unfavorable possible light at every opportunity, he’s putting a personal bias aside in an effort to be “objective.”

There’s probably a bit of white liberal guilt involved here, too, or perhaps more precisely, overprivileged white uptowner guilt. “I’m a lowly sinful racist, so my beloved hometown city must be racist as well.”

I would gladly volunteer to take over. I have no doubt that I could do a better job, and make better use of that nice fat paycheck, too.

This explains so much. His bias for reporting on how New Orleans is too racist to recover is for him an act of truth telling. Time has passed. We need to go back and look at some of Nossiter’s articles and see how true they are. They are not covering this story. The New York Times is simply not covering New Orleans and they are one of the few national news outlets with the capacity to do so.

Alan

Gary Dohanich
New Orleans
________________________________________
Date: Tue, 1 Aug 2006 11:05:27 -0500
Subject: Re: New Orleans on Their Minds

Mr. Dohanich – thanks for your message. I don’t believe the role of a journalist is to promote any particular goal or agenda, even the one we all hope for –
the recovery of the city. It’s not our business to boost New Orleans _ and I know some media colleagues, particularly in televison, feel differently _ but
rather to convey as faithfully as possible conditions as they are. Admittedly, this doesn’t always make pleasant reading.

yours – Adam Nossiter
At 11:59 AM 7/29/2006, you wrote:
July 29, 2006

Adam Nossiter
New York Times National Desk

Dear Mr. Nossiter,

I renewed by subscription to the New York Times in June. I cancelled the subscription within the first week after reading your front-page article describing a state of hysteria that gripped the citizens of New Orleans as we entered hurricane season.

While there have been many fair reports by journalists in the aftermath of the storm, a preoccupation with the descent of our city seems to captivate the national media. This sensationalism bleeds into the public psyche, turning Americans against our recovery, frightening potential visitors, driving away many who would consider relocating here.

While some writers have been able to weave fame from the threads of our demise, I would have expected more sensitivity to our plight from a journalist with strong local roots. Sensationalistic reporting threatens our recovery as we attempt to build public consensus. While I will not deny the truths in some of these reports, in many cases, the pessimistic approach of some journalists creates uneven tales that are best described as half-truths.

I am not asking you to create a fictional image of the city, I am asking you to report our story fairly and accurately with better balance and sensitivity than you have shown in some of your efforts. For example, I found this phrase in your story on the recent national conference of librarians “What with ever-present evidence of last year’s destruction, crime shooting up, near-daily fires and continuing malaise… . “ Your words translated an important and positive event in our recovery, our first major national conference, into yet another negative tale of the city’s stagnation.

There is a fine line tread by journalists as you tell our story. We depend on major journalists like you to get it right. You must tell America that the government has failed us, but at the same time, you must inform the country of our resolve to rebuild this great city. When you focus too sharply on the obstacles that confront us, your reporting only reinforces the agenda of some outside the city that would dismiss our rebirth as extravagant or impractical.

Maybe I’m still in the denial stage but if you need an empirical example of the effects of negative reporting on the city’s recovery you need look no further than freshman enrollments at local universities that draw heavily from the national pool of students. By their own reports, parents who are considering universities like Loyola, Xavier, or Tulane for their children have been frightened by stories of an hysterical populace, street crime, and unhealthy conditions, some of which have appeared in the Times. These stories are having a corrosive effect on our recovery. As each of these reports appears, I can only imagine the loss of another ten students, or a thousand tourists or a conference or two. Unfortunately, if local universities fail to recover, the city will fail to recover; undoubtedly the next ‘big scoop’ for national journalists.

The image of New Orleans created by the national media is often shallow, without texture. As you well know, the city has always been misunderstood by outsiders, which is part of its charm, but we can no longer afford the luxury of this cosmetic. I know that you are devoted to reporting just the facts but truth is rarely absolute. I also know that you are concerned about the rebirth of New Orleans, but in my opinion, your commitment to keeping us in the American consciousness has been been tempered by the tone of your reporting. Sadly, I fear that your efforts to tell our story may be inhibiting rather than promoting the city’s recovery.

Gary Dohanich
New Orleans, Louisiana

I don’t think anyone disapproves of the subject matter ~ it’s this guy’s outrageously prejudiced opinion, presented as though it were objective journalism, that raises objections. As Adam pointed out in the original post, NPR, the AP, the LA Times provided accurate, sane coverage of the same event that Nossiter presented as some kind of race-war event.

You are correct that both accountability and race are news. The point is that Nossiter ignored the accountability issue in his story and fabricated a nonexistent racial controversy, while the other three sources provided much more accurate and less inflammatory stories of the same event.

I noticed that you’d commented in this forum a number of times and that I haven’t responded. You’ll notice that I’m starting to participate in my own forums, rather than creating a new blog post. I’d like to get more dialog going on Think New Orleans, so it doesn’t feel like a mouthpiece.

Alan

NYT Removes Condescension Dig at Colorblind Alabama Voters

He’s got me linking to a right-wing website. Why can’t the New York Times use a real reporter in New Orleans. He is a drive-by journalist. Give him a column if you think he’s so profound, but don’t call this journalism.

I am very sorry if anyone migyht misunderstand and think I was comparing this writer to the late John Kennedy Toole, author of A Confederacy of Dunces. In stark contrast to Nossiter, Mr. Toole wrote about New Orleans and pretty much got everything *right.*

He’s wrong. Always wrong. I still don’t fathom his motivation.

Is it a dry neighborhood sensibility or is it a carpetbagger sensibility to wish for the destruction of the city away from the river?

I hope he noticed this week’s news that our city’s population is already over 60% of the pre-K numbers, and of course still growing (albeit ever more slowly).

I’m sure that we’ll continue to prove this asshole wrong as we continue to piece our lives together, pretty much on our collective own with very little help and encouragement from the likes of Mr. Tool.

http://tinyurl.com/ypuo7q

Which prompted me to write him the letter below. My wife then googled him and found your blog. He seems to have it out for NOLA and Louisiana! What a sad, strange thing to make a career out of.

You can email him by clicking on his name at the top of the article.

My letter to Mr. Nossiter:

“Mr. Nossiter,

While I appreciate your coverage of Bobby Jindal and the Louisiana governor’s race (despite being a democrat-leaning voter, a admire Jindals accomplishments and have high hopes for what he’ll do for the state), I have to say that you as a reporter succumbed to a narrow minded, insulting, and uninformed approach in your portrayal of Louisiana.

That’s not to say that I am ignorant of the problems in the economy and educational environment of the state, but based on your article, people will be validated in their perceptions of Louisiana as a drunken redneck opposum-eating hootenany.

And the picture in the article– do you think that guy is representative of the average Louisianian? Even rural Louisianians? Give me a break. Did you know that the concentration of the Cajun population is in South Louisiana, not the northern La. rural communities you refer to? Of course not, its all one big homogeneous smattering of ignorant racists to you.

You missed a huge piece of the puzzle. There are reasons Bobby Jindal sees this as an opportunistic time for Louisiana. Those reasons include the presence of sophisticated business associations, forward-thinking regional foundations, and a colorful cultural economy with a sturdy backbone, to name a few. But that would have been too much work for you to dig that deep, right?

As a state, Louisiana is a a critical juncture, where it needs to prove its resilience and ability to adapt, and it isn’t your job to do that for us. It is your job, however, to report with integrity, and to see past all the old, over-used stereotypes.

Cheap shots, Adam, that’s what your article amounted to. A story about hope, set in a biased context of cheap shots.

Cheers,
_Phillip

p.s. no personal offense intended, I’m sure you work very hard and I wish you all the best, but I have to stick up for a place that I love so much.”

* “New Orleans of Future May Stay Half Its Old Size”:http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/21/us/nationalspecial/21orleans.html?pagewanted=1&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fN%2fNossiter%2c%20Adam&_r=1.

The following are comments on this latest article.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/21/us/nationalspecial/21orleans.html?pagewanted=1&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fN%2fNossiter%2c%20Adam&_r=1

Lest we forget Orleans Parish and Jefferson Parish are immediately adjacent. Perhaps our friends in New York don’t understand how to read a map and look at all the the statistics.
Did and does New Orleans have history of race and poverty issues?
You bet.
Does this history influence recovery efforts?
You bet.
But the picture is more complex than it is being made out to be
AND we, collectively as a city, are stronger than we are given credit for being specifically because (while others may not) WE understand and respect our history and this complexity and take it into consideration whenever we are trying to understand a problem or look for a solution.

Proof again of our uniqueness and, if looked at properly, another reason WHY New Orleans is important to the entire US.

Do you really think that Mr. Bush would have the ratings he has today on IRAQ alone? Think about when his slide in the polls started. What happened in New Orleans matters even if the President doesn’t mention us in his speeches.

Keep the faith.

With Jefferson Parish vying with East Baton Rouge Parish as the most populous parish in the state,
With all the people in St. Tammany….
It is just plain silly to paint New Orleans as a dying city in the wilderness.
We have suffered a devastating Hurricane, the incompetence and continued incompetence of Corp of Engineers, a void of leadership…. that we are struggling and still here is an indication of our strength not our weakness.

We deserve more credit than we are being given.

The problem is that as a citizens of Louisiana, we have a horrible history of electing corrupt and incompetent people. Huey Long, Edwin Edwards, David Duke, William Jefferson, etc. If I remember correctly, 7 out of 9 people elected in statewide elections in 1992 have since served time in jail.

The African-American dominated New Orleans school board failed to educate an entire generation despite a half billion dollar budget. The white dominated state legislature continued to fund the New Orleans school system without holding anyone accountable, and hence they are also at fault. It seems the federal government is currently making the same mistake.

Don’t know and really don’t care where he got his stats but the points he made hit home! We had the problems pre and now magnified post-Katrina. Over the past twenty years as a self-employed owner of a minority owned security firm – I have been exposed to so much of what is wrong and what could be right if PEOPLE OF FATIH AND INTEGRITY (BOLD PRINT INTEGRITY) would stand-up! Know about corruption, then TALK about it and do something besides LINE YOUR POCKET! Unhappy with crime, then treat each life as priceless – NOT just “celebrity life”! Own rental property then fix it RIGHT and charge a FAIR RATE (in other words don’t be a slum lord – would you live there?). Unhappy about the schools then get INVOLVED – DEMAND accountablity, attend PTA meetings! Want equality in life then pay a LIVING WAGE – NOT MINIMUM WAGE PLUS TIPS. Go to church – any church learn the word – live the word – try hard not to MANIPULATE the word for self serving purpose! In my short life (45 years) I have learned that most of our problems have VERY SIMPLE SOLUTIONS – be fair and honest, give respect to get respect and believe that it will work itself out and everybody wil be happy!

And Nossiter penned one of the most scathing op-eds I’ve ever seen in the Times Picayune. At the time Greg Peters said of it: “Adam Nossiter tears the Queen Bee a new one and in the process becomes my new hero.”

Is that the same Greg who commented above?

These folks do need to hear about race, frankly (just not from any self-appointed housing radicals or anything, for then they’d just come out more screwed up).

You are so right. It is getting easier than ever to have a conversation across racial boundaries. The people who are locked out of St. Bernard have an exprience that is in many ways similar to the situation at Broadmoor. They are being told that they will not come back, for no real reason, and are being forced to prove their resolve to return.

Real orgainzers would have formed a neighborhood organization, and organized the residents of public housing along the lines of the planning process. The planning process has been hellish. It has not been pleasant for those who participated. If you’re going to sit through a tedious planning meeting, you are engaged. The natural leaders are visible, they can mingle, they can work together.

That said, residential segregation would be a weird statistic to use regarding the success of desegregation, given that most places in the South, including New Orleans, had *less* residential segregation before the death of Jim Crow. Richard Campanella’s “Geographies of New Orleans” goes over this incredibly well.

“Haunting the city’s effort to repopulate, too, is the incalculable toll inflicted by ghosts from its past — a political legacy of corruption and patronage, and a deep racial division with a far more distressing passage toward integration than was experienced, say, in Atlanta.”

You might expect the next paragraph to give examples of such passage toward integration, using, “say”, statistics regarding integration levels in comparison to cities like, “Atlanta”. (see http://www.censusscope.org/segregation.html). the city of atlanta is actually 10% less integrated than the city of New Orleans with respect to whites and blacks. Knowing these census data which contradict Nossiter’s statement, a good editor might want the writer to explain by example such a blanket statement. But Nossiter is allowed to follow this paragraph with this:

“Looking to the future, an additional 50,000 people might eventually be added to the city’s population, Mr. Oakland suggested, but there are no guarantees.”

In other words, he gets away with it. Nossiter’s writings and scholarship are always about race and he sees all conflict through this lens. If there were other problems which are more important, he can’t see them. Furthermore, if he identifies a problem associated with race, he rarely explains their complexities. He is not a reporter; he is more op-ed, selectively using information to make a point without addressing exceptions or inconsistencies. He is very dangerous to any the momentum of the recovery as locals clearly see he is superficial or shallow in his analysis and outsiders soak it up as gospel.